Broken Heart
by Tori101
Summary: A quiet girl who is like a shadow keeps a dark secret,a handsome boy who wants to help her.Chihiro has never felt love,and a boy she meets wants to change that.But is it enough to mend her heart?Original story, doesn’t flow with the movie
1. Torn

**Broken Heart**

A quiet girl who is like a shadow keeps a dark secret, a handsome boy who wants to help her. Chihiro has never felt love, and a boy she meets wants to change that. But is it enough to mend her heart. (Totally original story, doesn't flow with the movie)

**_Disclaimer_**: Me don't own Spirited Away! Do I? …I dunno…if I do then YAHOO!

**Chapter 1 Torn**

Huddled in the corner of her small room, a girl at the age of sixteen trembled in fear and pain. He had hurt her again, and this time he was really angry. She hid her face in her arms and felt hot tears sting her eyes.

Her hair was long and soft, and used to shine a beautiful light brown. But now it was a dull mousy colour. Her eyes were a shining hazel, but had dulled greatly to grey-brown orbs, almost dusty brown. The girl's body was skinny and she was thin, but she was curved in the places she needed to be quite generously. And her skin was a pale greyish colour. On the outside she may look dull, but on the inside she was broken.

She felt tears fall down her cheeks and to her chin. Then she felt the tired sensation travel through her body. She sighed, "Another night in my corner. Better then my futon I guess," she whispered as she closed her eyes and fell into a dark, dreamless slumber whose only purpose was to numb her pain. A small sliver of moonlight fell onto the girl's neck and the small sparkle of a sliver chain glistened. Around her neck was a small silver locket with a name inscribed on the heart that hung from the chain. '_Chihiro_'.

** + **

A boy that must have been seventeen looked out his window and felt a strange sensation of sadness and pain fall upon him. It shook off easily and quickly, but he frowned thoughtfully as he laid down on his futon. "That was weird," he murmured before he began to fall asleep. His hair was a dark greenish-black and his eyes a forest green. His skin was pale in a healthy way, and he had very handsome features. Chihiro, he thought before snapping his eyes open quickly. "What is going on tonight? And that name, Chihiro…I don't know anyone named Chihiro," he mumbled as he ran a hand through his shoulder length straight hair.

A woman with the same forest green eyes and green-black hair opened the door to his room and poked her head through the doorway. "Oh honey, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were awake." The boy smiled, "Don't worry about it mother, I was just going to sleep." The woman smiled at him, "Oh course you were darling. Goodnight Kohaku," the boy rolled his eyes. "Mother, I told you to call me Haku." The woman giggled, "I'm sorry, I forgot my big boy wanted to be called his cool name." Haku sighed playfully. "What'll I do with you?" he asked. His mother grinned, "You sleep on it, huh?" she asked before laughing softly and closing the door.

Haku sat back on his futon, resting his head on his pillow and closing his eyes. He heard a faint voice with no feminine or masculine tone behind it whisper _Chihiro_, but he paid it no mind.

** + **

Slants of orange light filtered into the small room, falling onto the girl sleeping in the corner. She rubbed her eyes and opened them to the dawn's light before standing to stretch. Sleeping in a corner didn't do her back any good. She scratched the back of her neck and walked to her dirty window and shoved it open with a cracking of the wood. She knew it wasn't broken, but very old. "Like this house," she mumbled as she propped her elbows on the windowsill and stared into the dawn longingly.

A small bird with orange and yellow feathers flew towards the open window and landed by the girl's right elbow. She looked down and smiled at it, "Good morning Taiyou," she said sweetly before stepping into her room and walking towards her dresser. She pulled out a long sleeved dark grey sweater and a pair of baggy grey pants. She took off her black night shirt, revealing her skinny body that was covered in old and new bruises before slipping on a bra and underwear. Then she pulled her pants on quickly before tenderly lifting her shirt and easing it over her head and pulling it down her torso. Even though she was used to the pain by now, she hated the sickening ache that her bruises caused her just putting on her shirt.

She looked over her shoulder at the little bird that sat huddled on her windowsill and walked towards it. Kneeling by the window, the girl hung her arms over the sill and positioned her chin on the sill as well. Taiyou, the little bird, hopped onto her arm and hopped onto her left hand. The girl smiled. "Taiyou, you have to find yourself a mate. A beautiful orange and red, or a bright red cardinal. Think about the combination of your feathers! You're probably the only cardinal with orange and golden yellow feathers, you deserve a worthy mate." Taiyou hopped till she faced the brown eyed girl. She chirped excitedly and flew the short distance to the girl and landed on her shoulder. "I mean it Taiyou, you're special. You deserve someone to fly away with who's worthy of you," the girl looked down sadly. "As for me, I don't think I'm ever getting out of this hell hole." Taiyou plucked one of the girl's hairs with her orange beak. Sighing, the girl withdrew back into the room. "Chihiro, you've definitely lost it. You talk to a bird every morning, and you get abused by that bird too." Taiyou puffed out her chest feathers proudly, before chirping a goodbye and flying off. Chihiro smiled and waved after the bird, "See you tomorrow," she mumbled and banged the window shut.

Creeping down the hallway of the small, one story house she lived in with Gai, Chihiro reached the front door quietly and grabbed her backpack before leaving the house. She stared across the dirt path barely large enough to fit a car through that led toward the town. Chihiro tapped her shoe heels on the dirt path way to make sure she got them on tight, and hurried down the path.

The forest always made her feel safe and comforted, likes she used to feel when her parents were around. Chihiro shrugged off their memory and hurried through the forest path. But no matter how hard she tried to shrug it off, it was as if the memory wanted her to go through the pain again. She shuddered as she remembered that night.

An eleven year old girl with light brown hair and hazel eyes walked hand in hand with her parents down the dark sidewalk. The street lamps cast soft glows over the streets and paths, creating a romantic effect. The little girl broke away from her parents and rushed ahead and walked backwards. "Chihiro, be careful. You might run into someone." cautioned her mother as her father laughed and placed a large arm around the older woman's shoulders. The little girl mimicked her mother, "'Chihiro be careful, you might run into someone,' don't worry mom. I won't run into anybody!" she giggled and ran back to her parents and clung onto her mother's hand.

As the family rounded a corner, they passed a few stores that were closing for the night. As Chihiro's mother hurried past a tavern, the girl's father looked around cautiously. As they rounded another corner, they passed an alley and found themselves in a dead-end. "Great, now we'll have to go back," the woman complained to her husband. "I told you it would have been easier to drive," the man sighed and tried to smile, when a man came up from behind them. "Excuse me, but would you be that Keiji (Sorry, but I don't know Chihiro's parent's names, so I'm making them up) guy from the Waranasu Tavern?" Chihiro's mother glared at her husband. "Keiji, have you been at that bar again?" Keiji sighed, "Yea, I'm Keiji, what's it to you?" he asked in a cold voice as he glared at the man who was smirking. "Well, it seems you made a bet with my old pal for a lot of money. And you lost." Kimi (Chihiro's mother) frowned, "And you've been gambling?" Chihiro was looking at the adults with a confused frown on her face. She didn't understand what her parents were talking about with this man.

The man's cold eyes drifted down to her and he smirked with a glint in his eyes. Chihiro knew it wasn't a good sign. "Mom, Dad, can we please go?" she asked alarmed as she tugged on her mother's sweater. Her mother patted her shoulder, "Right away dear." The man's smirk widened, "Sorry, but you're not going home." Before Kimi knew what was going on, she screamed as the man pulled out a gun and shot Keiji in the chest, killing him instantly. "Keiji!" Kimi cried as she hugged Chihiro close to her and held the girl's face to her stomach to keep her from seeing the bloody sight. But the man then turned towards the woman and shot her as well. Chihiro screamed as her mother fell away from her onto the pavement, blood spilling from her chest. She fell backwards as she backed up and tripped over her father's arm. She screamed again when she saw the horror stricken look in her father's lifeless eyes as blood soaked his shirt. Looking up to the man, Chihiro felt tears staining her eyes, "Why did you do this?" she cried as tears slipped down her cheeks.

The man took a few steps toward her and kneeled down to her level. His cold, onyx eyes looked into her innocent brown ones and his smirk increased. "Because your daddy was being a bad man. He never gave the money he owed to my pal." Chihiro bit her lower lip and squeezed her eyes shut, "Well, aren't you going to kill me too?" she asked, opening her eyes. The man chuckled and ran a finger down her cheek. "So smooth," he seemed to be thinking of something else, but then he turned his attention to the girl. "No, I'm not killing you. But I am going to erase your name." he answered darkly as he pulled out a cloth from his jacket pocket and a bottle with the label scratched up which he poured onto the cloth before shoving it over the girl's mouth and nose. A strange smell entered her nose and Chihiro felt dizzy and light headed before blacking out.

The memory caused the girl to shudder and tremble so hard she had to stop and lean against a building wall to keep herself steady. She had been so absorbed in her memory, she hadn't noticed the scenery change and that she'd reached the town. Some others were walking to school and work this early, but not many. She sighed after taking a deep breath and continued on her way to her school.

**First chapter, that's all really. I tried to make it long, but I failed miserably… (Whacks myself in the head) I wonder how many other fictions are based off original plots? But anyhoo, I hope you understand more about Chihiro's life is messed up. Next chapter will include Haku and school (Ahem, I mean Kid Jail)**

**Thanks for reading!**

Sam

(And if you find any errors or want to criticize my work, I'd be honored)


	2. Sen

**Broken Heart**

A quiet girl who is like a shadow keeps a dark secret, a handsome boy who wants to help her. Chihiro has never felt love, and a boy she meets wants to change that. But is it enough to mend her heart. (Totally original story, doesn't flow with the movie)

**_Disclaimer_**: Me don't own Spirited Away! But did you have to break the truth to me?

**Chapter 2 **

Waking from his slumber, Haku rubbed his eyes and stretched easily. Easy to say he slept comfortably. He stood from his futon and walked towards his wardrobe and pulled out a blue t-shirt and white shirt with shreds in the shoulders. Then he pulled out a pair of blue pants. After slipping off his night shirt and boxers, he slipped a new pair of boxers on and pulled on the blue shirt, then the white one. Afterward he yanked his pants on and rushed out of his room.

As he raced through the hallways, he passed by his cousin, Lin, who was just walking out of her room. She frowned after him and shouted, "Hey Haku! It'd be considerate if you'd clean up after yourself once in awhile!" The boy just glanced at the tall brunette girl before replying, "The servants take care of that!" before running down the stairs. "Yea! And they run this house! Lazy bastard," Lin mumbled as she buckled a blue belt around her waist and followed after her younger cousin.

When the girl reached the kitchen, Haku was shoving his face full of an omelet, a bowl of rice, and a plate of fish and curry. "Geez, you're gonna get fat if you eat all that," Lin remarked as she sat down with one bowl of rice. Haku's mother walked in and smiled at the two kids. "Well Kohaku's a growing boy; he needs a lot of nutrition!" Haku groaned as he slurped his tea loudly. "Mother, I told you, just call me Haku." Lin smirked at him as his mother ruffled his hair. "Oh sweetie give it a rest. Your friends may call you Haku, but I'm your mother so I can call you Kohaku if I please." Lin giggled as Haku pouted in his chair before finishing his breakfast.

Lin and Haku grabbed their back packs as they headed towards the front door. "Bye mother!" Haku called out loudly as two servants closed the doors to the house behind them. The two hurried down the path way from the mansion atop the hill down to the wrought iron gate that separated the River family's estate from the town. Two guards stood on both sides of the gate and they bowed respectfully to the two teenagers as the gates opened and they walked through them.

Haku brought his hands behind his head as the two walked towards their school. They walked in pretty much silence this morning until they got closer to the school grounds. When they reached the school and entered through the gate, they saw a small crowd gathering around a group of students. Haku and Lin watched and listened as they got closer, but gained worried frowns when they heard sounds of a fight. The two pushed through the crowd till they reached the center ring where they saw three boys surrounding a girl who was lying on the grass.

One of the boys had short blonde hair and was standing over the girl. He smirked as his buddies chuckled before he brought his foot back and sent a kick into the girl's stomach. She barely made a sound as his shoe collided with her tender belly through her sweatshirt. Some kids winced a bit, but others were loving it. Haku felt anger bubble up inside of him and when he looked over to Lin, he saw she'd snapped. Lin ran forward and axe kicked the guy that had kicked the girl. He howled in pain and turned around to punch whoever had kicked him. He threw a punch at Lin who dodged it easily and then punched him in the side of the face.

After beating up the boy, Lin dropped to her knees and placed a protective arm around the girl's shoulders. Then turning back to the other students, she hissed, "All of you, get out of here now!" students scattered and the other two boys grabbed their friend and ran for it. Haku was the only one who remained. He took a few steps towards them and heard Lin whisper some soft words with the girl, "I'm sorry that happened to you, I'm so sorry Sen."

**Chihiro's POV**

I felt the boy's foot kick my stomach again, and I wondered why I didn't cry out. Probably because no one would have helped me anyway. But then I heard someone run towards me, and then I felt an arm around my shoulder. Then I heard her voice hiss dangerously, "All of you, get out of here now!" Then I heard her whisper to me and tell me I was all right, if only she knew. Then I heard her say my name, _Sen_. I knew that was supposed to be my name now and Gai had taken my real name, but even after six years of hearing Sen, I still hated the sound of it.

**End POV**

Sitting up, Sen rubbed her right cheek which was starting to swell from when one of them punched her and knocked her down. "Sen, are you okay?" Lin asked in an older sister tone as she helped the girl with long brown hair stand up. "Yea, I'm okay. It doesn't even hurt. Arigato Lin," she whispered before looking up. What Haku saw caused him to feel a strange feeling inside. _That girl, her eyes. They hold no light in them, what is going through her head right now?_ The boy wondered. Sen felt someone staring at her, and she looked over and saw the last person she'd expect to be seeing. Haku River.

Sen quickly bowed her head to the boy and raced off toward the school building, only being tripped by other students three times. Haku looked over to his cousin who looked ready to kill somebody. "I can't believe the kids here! Sen barely says anything to anyone, and they all pick on her! It drives me mad!" Haku stared worriedly after the fleeing girl, something about the way she was running, holding herself up, and moving, wasn't right. It was as if she had pain coursing through her body. He could recognize the girl's run because his teammates on the football team usually staggered a bit like that after practice. "Lin, how do you know her?" Lin seemed to calm down a bit with the question. "I found her stuck in a janitor's closet a little while ago, and then I seemed to find her in hallway corners with a bruise on her face or picking up her books, or stuck in a locker. A girl like Sen really needs a friend. But she won't let me be seen with her, she thinks people will go against me and shun me too. She's such a caring person; it makes me wonder what happens to her at home,"

Haku instantly made a conclusion that the girl did need a friend, or maybe two; and he'd gladly become her friend. "Hey Lin, do you know what classes she takes?" he asked the girl. Lin nodded, "Yea, she's in all your classes. That's why I can remember her schedule so easily, why?" Haku grinned, "Like you said, a girl like her really needs a friend, besides you." Lin smiled, "All right, but she'll be very reluctant to let you even be around her. My guess is she won't see me for the rest of the day." The boy nodded and hurried to class as Lin rushed to her own. She was a year older than him, and was in another grade as well.

Sen took her seat in the back corner of the class and rummaged through her binder for her homework assignment when she realized she wasn't able to do it last night. She groaned softly and slumped in her chair as Haku strode into the classroom. The teacher, Ms. Riley looked up from the attendance sheet and frowned, "You're late Mr. River." Haku smirked as he sat down. The bell rang momentarily afterward and he replied, "Actually, I'm right on time." Ms. Riley frowned and checked his name off on the list.

She stood from her chair and went to close the door and after she returned to her seat, she grabbed another list. "All right, now we'll check and see who has the homework assignment. And if you don't have it, I want an excuse and two hours of detention after school." Some students groaned, but sighed happily after finding the assignment crumbled in a binder of folder. "Haku, do you have your assignment?" Haku nodded. After going through the rest of the class, Sen sighed gratefully when she realized the teacher forgot about her. But then she froze up when Ms. Riley continued, "Oh, and Sen. Did you do your assignment?" Some students turned around in their seats to watch the girl stutter. "Actually, Ms Riley I don't." The teacher leaned forward in her chair and smirked, "And what excuse do you have?" Sen stuttered as she looked around. _So many people are looking at me, and Ms. Riley's staring at me. I can't tell why! What am I supposed to say? 'Sorry Ms. Riley, I couldn't do it last night because Gai was beating the hell out of me?' That might even work, and then I'll be sent to therapy, and they'll think I'm crazy and send me to an asylum! Where I can sit around and rock back and forth and recite the Periodic Table of Elements all day and get medically-happy and high from anti-depressants and become a pill-popper. Great._

As Sen waged a war in her head, Ms. Riley became impatient. "Sen Kurono!" she shouted. The girl in the back paled and she whispered one word that made Haku widen his eyes in realization. "Chihiro…" she mumbled. Ms. Riley cocked an eye brow. "Excuse me?" she asked. Sen looked up with horror written over her face. _I said it…**Chihiro**…in front of **them**…_"I-I was looking up something, about, a," Sen was shaking badly as she felt something snap in her head and she closed her eyes before blacking out and falling from her desk.

Haku was the only one that got up out from their desk to take a look at Sen. The boy lifted her into a sitting position and turned to the teacher. "Ms. Riley, we should get Sen to the Nurse's Office," he stated as if he was in command of the class now. Ms. Riley just nodded her head as Haku reached a hand under Sen's knees and around her back before lifting her up and carrying her out the door and into the hallway. Ms. Riley seemed to recover from watching a student faint in her classroom and frowned angrily. "All of you! Page three hundred and four in your text books! Do problems one through forty! You have ten minutes," she added sweetly before the students rushed to open their text books.

Haku sat in a chair next to the standard clinic bed Sen was now lying on. The nurse said she was probly knocked out when she fell from the desk, but Haku knew she had been under mental stress that cause her to shut down. Like when your laptop gets over heated, you shut it down for awhile. But what he knew was that whatever was going through Sen's head, it wasn't no walk through the park.

+ Dream Sequence

When ten year old Chihiro woke up, she couldn't remember anything, it was all drawing a blank to her head. All she could remember was that final moment her parents were alive. She felt like she was moving and when her eyes focused, she realized she was in the backseat of a car. She tried to move, but her muscles felt so exhausted. She could barely keep her eyes open. She tried turning her head and noticed her hair had come out of the pony tail she had kept it in. When she tried to sit up, she felt her bones screaming to stop but she gripped the backset cushions of the car as tightly as possible until she pulled herself up.

"You're finally awake I see," a man's voice stated mockingly as Chihiro felt her head spin. She leaned against the back seat and closed her eyes till the nausea went away, and then she addressed the voice. "What happened? Where am I?" she asked as she felt her stomach churn as the car hit a bump. "Nothing, I don't know what you're talking about Sen. You've been sleeping in the backseat now for quite a few hours since we left town." Chihiro frowned, "Sen?" she asked as she rubbed her forehead which was throbbing. The voice chuckled, "That's your name. Don't tell me you're going crazy now, forgetting your own name," he told her as he turned off of a highway and onto a more isolated road.

Chihiro turned herself to sit forward and she leaned backwards to rest her head on the seat. 'My name's Sen? But I thought it was, Chi, no…what is my name? Sen can't be right, can it?' the girl thought confusedly as she felt the car lurch forward and speed up. Doubling over, the girl held her stomach and gritted her teeth. She didn't know where the pain was coming from, she just hurt all over. She lay back down in the back of the car and closed her eyes, hoping the painful feeling she felt now would go away. Then he spoke up again, "Sen, go back to sleep." As she felt herself slip into unconsciousness once again, she felt a cold feeling run through her spine that seemed to tell her she was in danger. But she ignored it and slipped into a dark, black sleep.

When the car finally stopped an hour or so later, the girl opened her eyes halfway. She heard the front door open and slam closed and then heard footsteps walk toward her side of the car. She tried to wake herself up fully, but she found herself just too tired to move. The door was opened and two arms reached in and grabbed the girl and pulled her out a bit roughly. The door to the back was also slammed and the noise seemed to make the girl jolt back to her senses. She felt as if she was being carried and then looked up into a man's face. Her eyes widened in realization, and she tried screaming when she saw his face; the same smirk and dark glint in his eyes. And she remembered the bloody scene of her parent's deaths. But before any sound came from her throat, the man once again pulled out the white cloth and shoved it over her nose and mouth. She tried not to breathe it in, but the smell entered her airway and she blacked out.

+ End Dream Sequence

Opening her eyes wildly, Sen sat up and panted heavily as she caught her breath in her throat. She looked around, and the first person she saw was Haku. She couldn't recognize him though, and she felt a strange feeling in her body. On instinct, she began to back away from him, but in doing so she fell off of the clinic bed and her back hit the hard tile floor. Haku stood up quickly and ran to her side. "Sen are you okay?" he asked a bit worriedly. Sen winced at hearing that name, and remembered the first person to have called her that. "Gai…" she mumbled quietly, causing Haku to look at her in confusion. But before he could ask her what she meant, Sen began trembling and pushed away from him. "Get away!" she mumbled as she wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked back and forth. Haku watched with wide eyes, but he then frowned determinedly and leaned back towards her. "Sen," he called out to her as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

The girl calmed down and sat still, her arms were still shaking a bit, but otherwise she seemed to be listening to him. "Sen, it's all right." The boy said quietly as he placed an arm around her shoulders. The girl closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening her eyes again. She looked over at him and smiled weakly before getting up to her feet. "Thank you, but I have to go." Sen turned and opened the door easily. As she pulled the door open, she winced a bit from a bruise on her arm and walked into the hallway back to class. Haku still sat on the ground, staring after her. He had seen the wince, and the way she walked was painful he could tell. "What is going on with Her?" He whispered to himself as he got up to follow her. I'll find out, he concluded and exited the Clinic.

**Sorry for the late update, it could have been worse though, let me tell you. And thank you my three precious reviewers. Your reviews made me feel all fuzzy inside, or it could have been Chelsea's cooking, anyhoo. I'm glad you three liked my story; I must say I've been in the Inuyasha 'M' category too long, hehe. See ya soon with the next chapter.**

Sam


	3. Discovery

**Broken Heart**

A quiet girl who is like a shadow keeps a dark secret, a handsome boy who wants to help her. Chihiro has never felt love, and a boy she meets wants to change that. But is it enough to mend her heart. (Totally original story, doesn't flow with the movie)

**_Disclaimer_**: Me don't own Spirited Away! And if you tell me I don't, I'll just ignore you…

**Chapter 3 **

Haku hurried into the hallway to follow Sen back to class. He rounded a corner quickly to catch her entering the classroom. He picked up his pace so he'd be close behind, and as he entered through the door, he saw Ms. Riley get up from her desk. "You two, detention for two hours after school." Sen frowned and sighed dejectedly and turned to her seat, when Haku spoke up. "Oh really? For what may I ask?" he asked with a growl in his voice. The woman smirked, " For disturbing my class. Now I expect to see you and Miss Kurono after school in the detention room. End of discussion." Some in the class snickered as others gave unseen glares to the teacher.

Haku was about to argue further when the bell rang. He grumbled under his breath as he went to his seat to retrieve his books and binder. When he looked up, he saw half of the class had already headed out the door. His eyes also caught the dark grey sweatshirt Sen wore as she rushed out of the classroom. He hurried after her and called her name in the hallway. "Sen! Wait up!" His words only caught the attention of a few students, but Sen just hurried through the crowd. Haku knew he would have lost her if he didn't have the same exact schedule. "Sen, wait up!" he called once again as he caught up to her finally and placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from running. She looked over to him and winced from a sore spot on her shoulder. Giving the boy a steely glare, she snapped, "Thanks for helping me, but I'm perfectly fine now as you can see! So I'd like it if you'd just leave me alone now!" Haku widened his eyes from the girl's words. No one but Lin had ever yelled at him like that, it was a different tone he wasn't used to hearing. "Hey, what's your problem? I just wanted to talk with you," Sen pulled away and tightened her hold on her binder. "Well obviously, I don't want to talk with you. Anyone with eyes could see that." she stated angrily and turned once again to go down the hallway to their math class.

Haku growled and reached out, grabbing her arm. "Sen, what happened back there?" he asked with a soft tone in his voice. The brown haired girl shuddered a bit and closed her eyes before sighing heavily and opening her eyes sadly. "You don't want to be seen with me. You should get to class first. Otherwise they'll think you were walking with me," Haku let go of her arm, and hoped she wouldn't run. She didn't. "Sen, I don't see what makes you think you aren't as important as anybody else, but if you're going to think that way, I'm going to have to persuade you otherwise." He stated firmly. Sen sighed and looked over to him with tired eyes. "Why bother? I'm just one person, it doesn't mater, it never did. _I never did_," her voice was so soft that she practically breathed the last part. Unluckily for her, Haku could hear it. "Sen, what do you mean? You never mattered?" but she never answered for the bell rang and she rushed into their math class with the bell. Haku just stared after her and followed into the math room.

The day progressed slowly as Haku observed Sen the rest of the day. After math, they only had English before lunch finally graced them. (A/N: I didn't feel like writing about their classes so deal with it)

Haku finally got out of the lunch line and tried to find Lin's face among the many seniors in the lunchroom. He'd lost Sen in the ocean of students rushing to lunch, so he'd have to ask Lin if she knew where the girl was. He finally found her by the doors that led outside to the outdoor eating area. Smiling, Haku strode over. "Hey Lin!" he shouted over the din made by the students. The girl heard him and turned to look at him with a grin. "Hey Haku!" she shouted back as he reached her without dropping his lunch tray. Lin too held a similar lunch tray, and she grinned wider. "Wanna eat with Sen? I saw her run by a few minutes ago and have been waiting for you," Haku nodded as he followed her outside.

Outside, it was bright and sunny, with puffy cirrus clouds hanging in the air. Lin led him towards a large tree that grew in the middle of the campus. As they walked towards it, Haku looked around and saw that for being a nice day, not many people were out there.

The normal kids, and other populars and jocks sat close to the school. But farther away, other groups had stationed themselves. In one of the corners of the building that was covered in shadow he could see punks and Goths wearing the dominant black and keeping to themselves. Over by one of the outdoor labs, some future Tree Hugger Society nerds were eating. On the farthest away point of the school, he could see the various places where the school gangs hung out. As Lin took him closer to the tree, he caught a glimpse of the school's biggest hazard: the No Face gang. He shuddered a bit when he saw the members of the gang standing by the side of the school in their signature black cloaks they were only allowed to where outside and their blood red shirts with black straps across the chests. He almost froze when a boy with light brown hair and dark eyes looked over to him and his gaze met Haku's head on.

Lin turned around to see Haku staring at the other students, and she stomped over to him. "Hey loser! Come back to earth you idiot!" she shouted in his ear. Haku broke out of his trance like state and looked apologetically at Lin. "Gomen Lin," he mumbled and followed her over to the tree. (Finally)

Lin brightened when she saw a grey clad figure sitting against the tree. "Hey Sen!" she shouted as she hurried over. She received no response from the girl so she stood over her and frowned, "Hey, you could at least wave or-" Lin sighed when she realized the girl was sleeping. She sat down next to her and patted the grass in front of her for Haku to sit down. The boy sat down across from the girls and set his tray in his lap. "I can't believe she'd fall asleep during lunch," Lin mumbled as she unwrapped a plastic fork and stabbed her salad. Haku took a closer look at what Lin was eating and frowned. "Lin, why do you only have a salad and an apple?" he asked as he began to poke at his mystery meat burger. Lin furrowed her brow. "What? It's _healthy_, and low on _cholesterol_. Two words you've never heard of. Besides, did you know one apple will give you the same amount of energy as a cup of coffee-?" she began when Haku decided to be brave and begin to take a bite out of his burger. "You bore me," he mumbled as he took a mouthful of mystery meat. "You know Haku, you'll die young if you eat that stuff," Lin warned as Haku spit out his mouthful. "Just my luck, bratwurst…UGH!" he stated in disgust and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Lin crinkled her nose in disgust, "That's disgusting," Haku smirked and took a sip out of his water bottle. "Only if you're a girl. God Lin, stop being such a neat freak!" He laughed and Lin joined him.

Sen slowly opened her eyes at the sound of laughter. Her dream had actually been peaceful. She'd dreamt she was sitting against a tree with two people sitting with her and laughing at something one of them had said. When she opened her eyes fully, she realized it was real. But if only it hadn't been those two. "Lin-sama? Kohaku-sama?" she asked respectively as the two River students looked at her. Lin smiled at her. "Hey, looks like someone finally woke up. And I told you, just call me Lin." the older girl ordered as Sen sat up straight. Haku smiled at her as well. "Well, you've decided to join us. And you," he added with a smirk, "Can just call me Haku. No need for formalities." Sen looked worried and looked around. "You two shouldn't be sitting here," she began but Lin cut her off. "No more of that 'We shouldn't be seen with you' crap, okay? We really don't care, why don't you want us to be your friends?" Lin asked with a bit of hurt in her voice. Sen widened her eyes when Lin spoke those words. _Why don't you want us to be your friends?_ rang in her head as an image of Gai broke into her head. His voice almost as if he was saying it right next to her. _"And don't you dare even think about telling anyone about our little 'talks' got it? Or I'll personally make sure I will be the last thing you ever see, do I make myself clear?"_ Sen looked down and mumbled "Yes…" before she even knew she'd spoken aloud. She looked up to see Lin's face, "Well?" Sen smiled weakly. "I don't want you to be seen as an outcast by your friends, it wouldn't be fair." Lin rolled her eyes. "God Sen, you really are thick, aren't you?" she asked with a smile. Sen looked down again and Lin placed her hands on her hips. "And no more looking at the ground all the time." Sen looked up at her and smiled. "Whatever," she answered.

Haku, who'd been watching Sen intently during the pep talk, noticed she seemed to be a bit down. But her smile, weak as it was, was really something. Her eyes even seemed to light up. But he also noticed she didn't have her lunch with her. Did she already eat or something? he asked himself, but thought nothing of it afterward. It really was fun to watch Lin try to carry a conversation with the girl who only spoke a few select words. By the time the bell rang signifying lunch was over, he'd actually found out one or two things about Sen. One was that she lived a mile or so away from the school so she woke up pretty early, and two was that she knew a lot about birds. Just bringing up the subject of the feather covered dumplings made her lighten up and even speak a sentence or three.

As they walked back to the building, she surprised the two by saying, "Hey, I really should get to class, I left my things in my locker." Before Lin could offer to go with her, she was gone. Lin sighed and stared at Haku. "hey Haku? I need you to keep an eye on her, is that okay?" The forest haired boy nodded. "Sure, Lin. See you in gym." Lin nodded and the two cousins went their separate ways as Lin walked off towards the Senior's section of the High School and he hurried to try and find Sen in the Juniors.

Sen, true to her word, hurried to her locker and opened the accursed thing after three tries with the combination. As she opened the metal door, she reached in to grab her binder and noticed a note taped to her locker's door. "What?" she asked herself as she tore it off her door and flipped it over to reveal an insignia of a white and black mask with a frown on its face with a black X behind it. On the forehead of the mask was a small, blood red X. Sen furrowed her brow and nearly jumped out of her skin when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head and could see the hand was pale with long, slim fingers, tipped with black and blood colored nail polish. Fully turning around, her eyes widened in uncertainty when she looked into the dark eyes of a girl. The girl had pale skin and dark violet eyes with dark violet hair kept down to below her shoulders. She wore a blood red shirt, and had two black straps across her chest in the shape of an X. "Hey, you're that Sen Kurono girl aren't you?" she asked in a low voice. Sen nodded, feeling a chill sweep up her spine. The girl smirked, her lips had a thick layer of violet lipstick over them, and around her eyes was a thick layer of black eye shadow and an even thicker outline in violet. She also wore heavy mascara. "Relax, I'm not hear to kill you. Just to tell you something." Sen frowned uncertainly and nodded for her to go on. "Our boss has been thinking, and we've decided to see if you can join the No Face Gang." Sen felt fear strike up to her face. The girl seemed amused by her reaction.

"You've got two weeks to think about it. When you've made your decision, come find me. My name's Kurenai Watatsumi." Sen shuddered from her name as she disappeared into the crowd of students. Sen was still shocked, but it lifted when a boy knocked her into her locker door. "Oops, wish I could say sorry!" he shouted to her as he hurried along with his friends who were laughing with him. Sen rubbed her cheek where the cool metal had slammed her and she slammed the locker shut.

As Haku walked towards the Gym, he passed by a few lockers and noticed a boy push a girl into her locker. He felt furry well up and he stomped over there to see the girl slam the locker closed. "Oh Sen," he began in surprise. He should have recognized her from the baggy grey clothes. Sen turned to him and smiled, "Hey," she mumbled before beginning to walk towards the Gym. Haku walked with her.

"What was that thing about?" he asked, referring to the locker incident. Sen looked down, "He bumped into me by accident," she answered, Haku knew she was lying. "Really? Didn't look like that from where I was standing." Sen tried to smile, "Well, it was. So there's nothing wrong," Haku felt a strange sense of anger grow in his stomach. But he ignored it and asked the girl something. "Hey Sen, Lin has the same Gym period with us, want to hang out with us?" Sen was about to say no when Lin seemed to pop up out of no where and smile. "Hey Haku, Sen! C'mon! Best subject of the day is on its way!" Lin grabbed the brown haired girl and ran off towards the girl's locker rooms before Haku could blink. "Okay, meet you later…" he mumbled as he turned into the boy's locker rooms.

As Lin dragged Sen into the locker room, Sen felt fear crawl under her skin. The other girls in the locker room were changing into their gym uniforms and had to practically strip their clothes except for their bras and underwear. Sen knew if she so much as lifted her shirt, everyone would see the bruises. Even her legs had nasty bruises. She'd surely be in trouble if anyone saw them. Lin stopped in front of her locker and took out her gym uniform. "Hey Sen, you better change. You just might be late for our wonderful next class!" Lin shouted happily. Sen frowned in downcast and went to her locker which was only a few lockers away from Lin's. Pulling out the grey t-shirt and low grey shorts, Sen sighed. _Maybe if I change in a bathroom stall, I would be able to make sure they didn't see the bruises on my stomach. And I'll just say I was in the woods and fell for my other bruises. No one will care enough to actually ask anything further,_ Sen reasoned. She quickly headed toward the bathrooms in the locker room and stepped into one before locking it. Unknown to her, the lock wasn't locked all the way and slowly and quietly, it unlocked.

Lin finished dressing and headed towards Sen's locker, but couldn't find her. Looking around, she couldn't see the long, brown haired girl anywhere. Lin then spotted a freshman girl and walked over to her. The older girl tapped the freshman on the shoulder, making the blonde girl turn around. "Do you need something?" she asked in a sweet voice. She obviously hasn't been here long; Lin smirked to herself and nodded. "Yea, have you seen my friend walk by? Long brown hair, brown eyes, and dark grey clothes?" The girl nodded, "Yeah, she went to the bathroom," Lin thanked her and ignored what she was about to ask and headed toward the bathrooms. The freshman huffed angrily and stomped her foot. "She didn't even bother to ask me my name, what a jerk," she mumbled and walked off.

Lin entered the bathroom area and knew which one Sen was in because she could see the grey sweatshirt on the tiled floor. As the girl walked toward the stall, she stumbled a bit and fell forward. As she fell, she slammed into the bathroom stall door, scaring the creeps out of Sen and opening the door wide. As Lin stood up, she was smiling from her little blonde moment and looked over to Sen to see her reaction. But instead of smiling, her face became etched in horror. She could see Sen's stomach and arms, covered in black, blue, and yellow bruises. "S-Sen, where did those come from?" she asked as the brown haired girl tried to hide them. "Please, Lin…Don't tell anyone," the brunette cried as she reached for her sweatshirt and pulled it on easily before running out of the bathroom. Lin just stared after her.

**Okay, I'm super pissed because my parents are giving me limited time on the computer! Stupid adults…thinking I don't have a social life…But anyhoo…Sen makes friends! Yay! But then that girl from the No Face gang shows up, I bet none of you can guess who the leader of the gang is! But Lin sees Sen's bruises, that can't be good huh? Well, in the next chapter, we'll have detention, an encounter with Gai, and more dream/memories.**

**BUH BYE!**

Sam


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